Nhi Nhi Hoi An

Touchdown in Vietnam and I've already taken a liking to this charming Vietnamese capital. Hanoi is a culture hub for Vietnam and offers all the trappings of a large modern day city with little banality and tons of well-dressed locals. I'd read about a swinging jazz club that Mr. Bill Clinton himself played at, so I knew I wanted to stay near there, my ears and senses burning for some good live music. I ended up on Hang Bac street, ironic yes, hence the title of this entry. Minh's Jazz joint d...

We woke up this morning after having a "waking up constantly" night due to the loudness of the area around our hotel. Seriously. Thin. Walls! We had tepid showers and headed down to breakfast (and check out). Buffet breakfast we'd been promised. Buffet ******** is what we got. Just not the breakfasts we are used to. After much stumbling around the breakfast table, we got our bags and walked a few blocks before deciding to take a taxi to Hoi An instead of the bus. About $15 AUD more expensive,...

At about 2.30am, a rooster decided to park his **** outside of our window and crow his head off for ten minutes. At about 3.30am, a rooster decided to park his **** outside of our window and crow his head off for ten minutes. At about 4.30am, a rooster decided to park his **** outside of our window and crow his head off for ten minutes. At about 5.30am, a rooster decided to park his **** outside of our window and crow his head off for ten minutes. At about... you get the point. Terrible night...

Today was our first day of organising our own breakfast. We headed to a local temple for reflections and photographs beforehand and then proceeded to the Re-Treat Cafe for a nice omelette or three. Yum. The weather was fantastic and beautiful so we decided to do a bit of a walking tour around Hoi An Ancient Town. Before that, however, we checked out a local shoe shop to see what they could make up for us. I chose a knock off black suede Adidas runner in black and white with red on the tail. N...

We woke up and had breakfast in our own room! Last night, in an effort to crib some cash, we bought a few baguettes and cheese and we made our own breakfast (ordered in a fruit plate and coffee from room service, water from the bar fridge). Yummy and cheap! Just the way I like it. Over breakfast, I decided that I would treat Kythera to a manicure and pedicure at the local day spa. I organised it and she left at 10am. After the kids had a short nap (and I watched "Wild Hogs" on Satellite), we ...

It may seem a bit early to be having a 'reflections' entry, but there are many things that I find myself thinking about again and again. So I thought I might share some of them. This morning, breakfast was like every other meal here in that almost the entire time we were watched by the staff as we ate. There have been a large number of young children travelling here in Hoi An, so we are not the only ones with a pram or a little one, and yet we still are stared at, pointed at, stopped, and at ...

We were woken up this morning by a phone call from the front desk saying that we had a phone call. Guessing (correctly) that it would be my parents, I got Ophelia up out of bed and we had a quick chat with Mum & Dad. Was good to say Merry Xmas to family from this far away. After a particularly nice phone call, we got ourselves ready for breakfast and went downstairs to look at the Xmas tree and what do you know? Santa came to Hoi An last night for two good little children! Just a couple o...

Hej allesammen, haaber at I trives godt derhjemme.. Hoi An er byen, hvor vi valgte at fejre Tet (det vietnamesiske nytaar - efter kinesisk kalender og tradition), som er en stor hoejtid her i landet og den eneste rigtige helligdag for de lokale paa hele aaret. Vi kom til byen tidligt om morgenen med natbussen fra nha Trang, som i oevrigt var mindre underholdende, da den selvfoelgelig - vanen tro - var propfyldt med dejlige jappere paa vej hjem til familien for at fejre Tet. Men vi fandt et fi...